New York Times adds sharing tool

Readers can post to Digg, Newsvine

Updated 10:00 pm, Sunday, December 10, 2006

It's easy to share an article on popular social-bookmarking sites using this toolbox that appears on NYTimes.com stories.

It's easy to share an article on popular social-bookmarking sites using this toolbox that appears on NYTimes.com stories.

New York Times adds sharing tool

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The New York Times unveiled a new service today that allows readers to quickly post stories that they find on the newspaper's Web site to Digg, Facebook and Newsvine.

It marks the first time that the country's third-largest newspaper has added a news-sharing tool to its Web site, allowing readers to develop conversations and post comments about specific stories. Readers will be able to add headlines and a small portion of text to the social media sites by clicking on the logos of Digg, Facebook and Newsvine. Those logos began appearing next to The Times' stories this morning in the same box as the print and e-mail tools, although they're initially hidden until users click the "Share" link.

The sharing feature will not be used on TimesSelect stories, the newspaper's premium content offering, nor will it be available on staff blogs or wire stories.

Newsvine Chief Executive Mike Davidson said the partnership is a tremendous boost for his six-person Seattle startup, offering credibility, marketing muscle and possibly a surge in traffic.

"It is one of the world's most established newspapers and we have a great amount of respect for them, so the prospect of helping their audience get more out of their news and helping The Times doing some of the new things that they are looking at doing is very good for us," Davidson said. "We look at it as the beginning of, perhaps, a more meaningful relationship."

Davidson declined to comment when asked if The New York Times had considered investing in Newsvine. He said there is no revenue-sharing agreement, adding that it is simply a technology deal. It is the biggest newspaper partnership for Newsvine since its March debut.

Davidson -- who launched Newsvine with other former employees from The Walt Disney Internet Group -- is hopeful that the exposure leads to other deals with media companies. Newsvine, like Digg, is an online news site that encourages participation from readers.

Christine Topalian, manager of strategic planning and business development at NYTimes.com, said it was looking for ways to tap a tech-savvy audience that is accustomed to commenting on and sharing news stories. The newspaper contacted Digg and Newsvine directly, with Facebook approaching The Times after developing a news-feed service earlier this year.

At this time, there is limited ability for readers to comment directly on news stories on the NYTimes.com Web site. By partnering with third parties, the newspaper hopes to keep discussions going around its stories.

"The discussions are happening on the other sites, but there is still a way to link back to the (NYTimes.com) site," Topalian said. "So it is really to build awareness around the articles with users who may or may not have heard about the article."

The Times would not rule out adding comments to stories directly on NYTimes.com. Other partners may be added, though Topalian said the company was happy to start with Digg, Newsvine and Facebook.

"The audience of the three different partners align really well with people we have currently on the site or people we are trying to attract to our site," she said.

Newsvine is the smallest of the three that The New York Times is working with. It attracted about 560,000 unique visitors last month, a 19 percent increase over the previous month, according to its internal numbers.

The company, which expects to turn a profit next year, has raised about $1 million in venture financing.

Digg, by comparison, attracted about 1.6 million visitors in October, according to comScore Media Metrix. Facebook, which added news feeds in September, pulled in about 15 million visitors.

Davidson said he was flattered to have Newsvine chosen alongside Digg and Facebook.

"It is great validation for how far we have come," Davidson said. "We are the up-and-comer in that group."

The New York Times operates the most frequently visited newspaper Web site in the U.S., with about 10 million unique visitors per month.